South Elgin, St. Charles Among Top 20 Cities for Jobs
South Elgin ranks eighth and St. Charles 12th in WalletHub’s analysis of “Best and Worst Illinois Cities for Jobs.”
Other notables in Kane County that made the top 100 included:
- 43 — Batavia
- 53 — Huntley
- 62 — Geneva
- 76 — Bartlett (has part in Kane County
- 83 — Elgin
- 84 — Montgomery
St. Charles and Huntley also made the “Top 5” list is separate categories. St. Charles had the fourth-best unemployment rate for high school graduates and Huntley had the second-lowest percentage of high school grads living under the poverty line.
“With the third-highest unemployment rate in the U.S. and an infamously incessant budget crisis that recently shut down its state government, Illinois doesn’t appear to be a job seeker’s paradise,” WalletHub said. “But those issues are two sides to a multifaceted story, and the strength of local job markets varies across Illinois, as in any other state.”
Some other good news?
Illinois boasts the fifth-largest state economy by GDP, WalletHub said. This year, 37 Illinois companies made the Fortune 500 list and far many more grace the most recent Inc. 5,000 ranking, with several Illinois businesses nabbing spots in the top 100.
Here are the top 20 scorers, courtesy of WalletHub:
| Overall Rank | City | Total Score | ‘Job Market’ Rank | ‘Socioeconomic Environment’ Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Libertyville, IL | 68.35 | 6 | 1 |
| 2 | Grayslake, IL | 68.02 | 7 | 2 |
| 3 | Frankfort, IL | 67.71 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | Northbrook, IL | 66.92 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Vernon Hills, IL | 66.60 | 1 | 38 |
| 6 | Schaumburg, IL | 66.38 | 4 | 32 |
| 7 | Deerfield, IL | 64.16 | 16 | 10 |
| 8 | South Elgin, IL | 63.99 | 14 | 12 |
| 9 | Lemont, IL | 63.91 | 13 | 14 |
| 10 | Downers Grove, IL | 63.73 | 17 | 20 |
| 11 | Lake Zurich, IL | 63.67 | 9 | 31 |
| 12 | St. Charles, IL | 63.65 | 8 | 62 |
| 13 | Morton, IL | 63.26 | 18 | 19 |
| 14 | Glenview, IL | 62.92 | 21 | 28 |
| 15 | Bradley, IL | 62.84 | 3 | 108 |
| 16 | Elk Grove Village, IL | 62.37 | 12 | 87 |
| 17 | Buffalo Grove, IL | 62.27 | 22 | 50 |
| 18 | Round Lake, IL | 61.85 | 11 | 70 |
| 19 | Cary, IL | 61.67 | 43 | 5 |
| 20 | Roselle, IL | 61.64 | 15 | 65 |
Methodology
In order to identify the best and worst Illinois cities for jobs, WalletHub’s analysts compared 162 Illinois cities using 16 relevant metrics that speak to two key factors important to job seekers: the local “Job Market” and the area’s “Socioeconomic Environment.”
The cities in WalletHub’s sample were selected based on population size and the availability of reliable data. WalletHub considered the city proper in each case, excluding surrounding metro areas from its analysis.
